Curse you, Sainyn Swiftfoot, for your accurate portrayal of that final conversation with my daughter. You captured her very rebellious and scornful essence in that conversation.

How I truly wish I'd kept her locked up for longer in that cellar. Alas, she escaped, (I have no idea how, but strongly suspect that useless husband of mine accidently let her out when he went down there for some more Firewhisky (there was a spelling error, by the way, no 'e' in whisky).

However, I am pleased you made my feelings plain and presented my point of view in your story. Really, I couldn't have put it better myself. Mudbloods are trash, after all, and she does deserve to be with the rats.

I have to say if I'd heard her answer to the question about Utler the Unsane, then I would have locked her up sooner - impudent child always thinking she knew best.

Thank you for at least mentioning my two 'worthy' daughters, although I'm not sure my darling Cissa was betrothed/married to Lucius at this point. She was only 15 after all.

You show some talent, Mr Swiftfoot, but I strongly suspect you to be a Muggle so I cannot allow you to write anymore about me.

Cruc... What do you mean I'm not allowed to use an Unforgiveable on a Muggle? Well, really, Cygnus, that is quite ridiculous. You are free to leave, Swiftfoot, but do not use your quill against me again. ~Druella Black~

Author's Response:

hahahahaha I LOVED that review! xD It made my day all over again when I read it just now...

Was Cissa really that young, Mrs Black? I apologise for my mistake. I shall try to amend it. For now, I shall make this excuse: in your times, Mrs Black, people married young. Incest was rampant and so was marriage at ridiculously young ages. Is it not plausible that Narcissa was betrothed to Lucius already?

AND MUAHAHAHAHAHA. You take your unforgiveables and stick them where the sun doesn't shine, honey. PFFFFT.

It is easy to see why Andromeda would want to escape to a life free of prejudice and full of love with Ted Tonks. Her mother is scary and very similar in her beliefs to Sirius' mother; it is how I imagine growing up with Mrs. Black must have been. Her mother was more upset that he was a Mudblood rather than the fact that they were swimming in the lake or snogging in broom closets. Her illogical beliefs just fly in the face of everything normal; I found myself right with Andromeda going, "Yea, so, what's the problem?!"

I wonder how long it took poor Andromeda to realize that arguing with her mother is like talking to the wall. That's the sense I got reading this - which I thought was what you were trying to achieve, so, hopefully that's what you were going for! Rationing with someone like this is futile. I thought she was going to get punished more harshly with her comments about her mother and father's relationship, actually. Quite a cheeky girl, Andromeda. :D

I think it might have made more sense for her to have found a letter from Ted, but the plot device worked just the same, as it let Andromeda put down her family rather than Ted, and it let Ted's character remain without fault except for his blood status in the eyes of her mother. Though it didn't do him much good.

The icing on the cake on this story was Andromeda's declaration of striving to be known as a failure to her mother. The paragraph where she declares this to now be her great pleasure in life was very satisfying to read, because even though I knew her mother STILL wouldn't get it…I knew Andromeda must have felt darn good saying it. And it made her mother speechless for once.

Oh, wait, then she's Petrified. Well, I know that eventually the story has a happy ending, so I guess this unhappy ending for now is okay. Just kidding, just kidding. I thought the ending was quite great, actually, as her mother abruptly curses her and throws her in the dungeon. Probably the most realistic ending, lol. But I know Andromeda got to hear her mother's final cruel words.

I was never confused as to who was speaking, which can be quite difficult in this type of writing, so kudos!, and I really enjoyed this look into a minor character! Great story!

This was good. I think you’ve done a great job of capturing both characters’ personalities, despite being limited to just their words. I got a real feeling for Andromeda’s courageousness in the moment, and her mother’s need to be in control, as such. The way you have Druella asking of her husband’s opinion while he doesn’t get a word in demonstrated that well, because it shows that their children are her business more than his – it could even suggest she cares for blood status more than he does. Which in one respect I find quite hard to believe, but then I think about Bellatrix...

I liked that the letter was found, though I don’t believe Andromeda would have left it somewhere so easy to find. In fact, I wasn’t really sure why she hadn’t sent it...? It’s just, in the Black family, being involved with a Muggle-born seems to me as something you would try to hide, because the Blacks are so for ‘blood-purity’.

Andromeda addresses Druella a lot as ‘mother’; I like that because it doesn’t imply any particular friendliness, which is backed up by the formal tone they speak in. It gives a nice insight in to the dynamics of their relationship. However, I’m pretty sure it should have the ‘M’ in uppercase, because she’s talking to Druella and calling her ‘Mother’.

I really like the end. You built the suspense up so well, and I really thought Andromeda was going to win, and walk away while her mother looked on in shock or something. But that didn’t happen. In that last moment of the story when Druella casts the spell on Andromeda, you show Druella’s power so well, and that Andromeda really is just a girl. She’s no match to her mother. Hm, I’d be interested to see how she actually escapes her family – well, escapes Druella. :]

This was an enjoyable read; most of the Andromeda fics I’ve read focus on Andromeda/Ted, or how her sisters are reacting to her slowly slipping out of the family. I loved Druella; she’s that perfect cold-hearted woman, who cares more for her family name than what her daughter wants. She reminds me of Sirius’ mother a little bit, which works because they both hold very similar beliefs. Good work. xx